Jose Altuve: ‘I literally love Justin Verlander’

Jose Altuve was not shy in expressing his fondness towards Justin Verlander during an interview after Game 6 of the ALCS on Friday.

The Houston Astros’ superstar was clutch again for his team as he went 2-for-4 with a team-high three RBIs in a 7-1 win to force Game 7. Verlander was similarly awesome, as he pitched seven scoreless innings for the win.

After the game, Altuve talked with FS1’s Tom Verducci and was asked about Verlander’s postseason excellence. That’s when Altuve let out a great quote.

“I literally love Justin Verlander,” Altuve told Verducci. “The way he goes out there makes me feel like I have to go out there and play the same way that he is doing. I know he’s going out there and doing everything he can to win this game. So everybody in the lineup wants to support him and score runs for him because we know the kind of guy he is.”

This is clearly a classic case of one superstar inspiring another to elevate his game. And it’s tough to say between the two who’s stood out more in the postseason, because both have been outstanding. Altuve led the AL in hits for the fourth year in a row and won his third batting title in the last four years, plus he’s the likely AL MVP. He’s batting .405 with four home runs in the playoffs. Verlander went 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA after joining Houston in the regular season, and he’s 4-0 with a 1.46 ERA in the playoffs this year.